1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to manufacturing and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for manufacturing parts using machines. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for machining workpieces with a multi-spindle machine to form parts.
2. Background
Manufacturing aircraft may require large amounts of time and expense as compared to smaller or simpler objects or structures. It may be desirable to reduce the amount of time needed to manufacture an aircraft. By reducing the amount of time needed to manufacture an aircraft, an aircraft manufacturer may deliver an aircraft to its customers earlier and receive revenues for those aircraft more quickly.
In manufacturing aircraft, the time involved in manufacturing parts for the aircraft and/or assembling the parts to form the aircraft may be greater than desired. These parts may include, for example, without limitation, brackets, structural members, spars, ribs, and/or other suitable parts.
With respect to manufacturing parts, different parts may be manufactured in a number of different ways. For example, without limitation, a number of machining operations may be performed on a workpiece to form a part. A machining operation may involve removing material to achieve a desired shape or geometry for a part. For example, without limitation, tools, such as lathes, milling machines, drill presses, and/or other suitable tools, may be used to mechanically remove material from a workpiece to form a part.
One manner in which the time needed to manufacture parts may be reduced may be to manufacture multiple parts at the same time. For example, without limitation, a multi-spindle machine may be used to perform a number of operations on multiple workpieces. A multi-spindle machine may be a machine with two or more spindles. Each spindle may hold a tool. As a result, a multi-spindle machine may be capable of performing a number of machining operations on multiple workpieces.
As an example, a structural member having a corrugated or undulating web may be formed using the multi-spindle machine. In this example, the multi-spindle machine may take the form of a multi-spindle milling machine that removes material from multiple workpieces to form these structural components. The multi-spindle machine may move all of the spindles in the same direction to machine the different parts. In this manner, higher production rates of parts may be achieved using these multi-spindle machines.
With producing parts, the tolerances, with respect to dimensions, may require some parts to be reworked or discarded. Currently, adjustments may be made with respect to the types of tools used, the speed of rotation of the spindles, and/or other suitable adjustments to the multi-spindle machine to achieve the desired tolerances more often.
Thus, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least one or more of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.